As Covid-19 immunization campaigns get underway across the world, so do counterfeit vaccination schemes. In this week’s Infodemic newsletter, we took a look at two cases in particular, in Mexico and China, where criminal groups were involved in selling fake Covid-19 vaccines.
🇲🇽 A private clinic in the Mexican border state of Nuevo Leon has been selling counterfeit Pfizer vaccines largely made of water for up to $2,000 a shot. The clinic is now under investigation, with six people arrested so far. Gangs were behind the racket, said the state’s secretary of health. While this is the first such case in the country, experts have long warned about criminal groups attempting to profit from vaccine rollouts.
🇨🇳 While Chinese censors have done their best to keep the news off the internet, reports emerged this month that, to date, more than 70 people have been arrested in 21 separate cases of fraudulent coronavirus vaccine sales. The profit margins are incredible: one man detained in November 2020 made over $2.7 million selling close to 58,000 doses of counterfeit vaccine.
Sign up for the weekly Infodemic newsletter or you can read today’s sendout in full here.
🇲🇽 A private clinic in the Mexican border state of Nuevo Leon has been selling counterfeit Pfizer vaccines largely made of water for up to $2,000 a shot. The clinic is now under investigation, with six people arrested so far. Gangs were behind the racket, said the state’s secretary of health. While this is the first such case in the country, experts have long warned about criminal groups attempting to profit from vaccine rollouts.
🇨🇳 While Chinese censors have done their best to keep the news off the internet, reports emerged this month that, to date, more than 70 people have been arrested in 21 separate cases of fraudulent coronavirus vaccine sales. The profit margins are incredible: one man detained in November 2020 made over $2.7 million selling close to 58,000 doses of counterfeit vaccine.
Sign up for the weekly Infodemic newsletter or you can read today’s sendout in full here.
Hello 👋 Here’s our top read for today:
⛓ The Brazilian far-right has for decades pushed the narrative that a left-wing conspiracy is secretly pulling the country’s political strings. But there’s a competing theory that the military is using hybrid warfare to assert control. Darren Loucaides looks at decades of opposing perceptions of reality in Brazil.
⛓ The Brazilian far-right has for decades pushed the narrative that a left-wing conspiracy is secretly pulling the country’s political strings. But there’s a competing theory that the military is using hybrid warfare to assert control. Darren Loucaides looks at decades of opposing perceptions of reality in Brazil.
Coda Story
The information war eroding political reality in Brazil - Coda Story
On Saturday March 7, 2020, then U.S. President Donald Trump sat down to a lavish banquet at his Mar-a-Lago resort with Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right leader of Brazil.
💊 In Colombia, steam, eucalyptus, lemon and a traditionally processed form of cane sugar are all being promoted as Covid-19 cures, despite a lack of evidence. Andrew J. Wight takes a look at the role of misinformation and fake coronavirus cures in Colombia.
🎮 Accusations of misogynistic comments and threats of rape are common on popular streaming and social media platforms like Youtube and Twitch where moderation policies don’t go far enough. Coda’s Katia Patin dives into it.
🎮 Accusations of misogynistic comments and threats of rape are common on popular streaming and social media platforms like Youtube and Twitch where moderation policies don’t go far enough. Coda’s Katia Patin dives into it.
Hello ✋ Here are the latest stories we’ve been following:
📜 Our reporter Isobel Cockerell keeps finding pamphlets on her doormat and shoved under her car’s windshield wiper in London. The leaflets are full of anti-lockdown propaganda and conspiracy theories. So she went on an adventure to find out who was printing them and why.
😶 Turkmenistan is intimidating critics living abroad. Mariam Kiparoidze reports on how the regime is silencing dissent even far beyond its borders.
📱 As protests continue to rock Myanmar, activists are creating apps to keep people safe on the streets and target the army’s business dealings.
📜 Our reporter Isobel Cockerell keeps finding pamphlets on her doormat and shoved under her car’s windshield wiper in London. The leaflets are full of anti-lockdown propaganda and conspiracy theories. So she went on an adventure to find out who was printing them and why.
😶 Turkmenistan is intimidating critics living abroad. Mariam Kiparoidze reports on how the regime is silencing dissent even far beyond its borders.
📱 As protests continue to rock Myanmar, activists are creating apps to keep people safe on the streets and target the army’s business dealings.
🚨 The same Sudanese militia that committed numerous atrocities in Darfur is trying to rebrand itself as a group of philanthropic statesmen helping the country fight Covid-19. Mat Nashed has the story.
💉 Anonymous accounts on Telegram are selling fake vaccine certificates to Russians hoping to side-step the Sputnik V vaccine. Tatiana Torocheshnikova and Katia Patin report.
💉 Anonymous accounts on Telegram are selling fake vaccine certificates to Russians hoping to side-step the Sputnik V vaccine. Tatiana Torocheshnikova and Katia Patin report.
Hello 👋 Here are the stories that we’re following right now:
🇨🇳 In China, a new digital tool will track the vaccination status for citizens entering and leaving the country, fueling privacy concerns. Isobel Cockerell reports.
💉 From COVID deniers to anti-vaxxers, conspiracists are flocking to online hubs and feeding off of one another's narratives. Erica Hellerstein digs into the convergence of antisemitic & anti-vaccine conspiracies, which experts say is growing during the pandemic.
🇨🇳 In China, a new digital tool will track the vaccination status for citizens entering and leaving the country, fueling privacy concerns. Isobel Cockerell reports.
💉 From COVID deniers to anti-vaxxers, conspiracists are flocking to online hubs and feeding off of one another's narratives. Erica Hellerstein digs into the convergence of antisemitic & anti-vaccine conspiracies, which experts say is growing during the pandemic.
🎤Hip-hop is on the front lines of the fight for democracy in Myanmar. Artists and rappers are coming out with anti-coup music protesting the military takeover. Read more here.
Coda Story
Myanmar's hip-hop musicians are releasing music protesting the military takeover - Coda Story
Anti-military hip-hop tracks have become a new front in the country’s information war
Hello 👋 Here is our top read for today:
🏭 Industrial pollution from factories along Tunisia’s shores is devastating fishermen’s income and making people sick with cancer and respiratory problems, but the issue has been largely ignored. Layli Foroudi reports for Coda Story.
🏭 Industrial pollution from factories along Tunisia’s shores is devastating fishermen’s income and making people sick with cancer and respiratory problems, but the issue has been largely ignored. Layli Foroudi reports for Coda Story.
Coda Story
Industrial pollution is destroying a Tunisian coastal community — but no one wants to talk about it - Coda Story
Abdellah Nouri has not been out to sea for two years. A fisherman from the Mediterranean town of Ghannouch in Tunisia’s coastal Gabès region, he was diagnosed with cancer in 2018. His condition and its treatment have left him housebound.
🧔🏻Anti-lockdown groups have seized upon traditionally male themes, such as personal sovereignty and individualism, to attract men. Lydia Morrish reports.
🇺🇿 In Uzbekistan, a new draft of criminal code calls homosexual relations a crime “against famliy, children and morality” and crimalizes same-sex relations between men with up to three years in jail. Read the full story here.
🇺🇿 In Uzbekistan, a new draft of criminal code calls homosexual relations a crime “against famliy, children and morality” and crimalizes same-sex relations between men with up to three years in jail. Read the full story here.
🔮 Russian astrologer Mikhail Levin has been using the stars to predict the future for Russian politicians since the late 1980s. And during the pandemic, he’s doing regular readings on YouTube. Glenn Kates and Tatiana Torocheshnikova dig into the popularity of astrology in Russia.
Coda Story
Former Kremlin astrologer remakes himself for YouTube - Coda Story
Mikhail Levin insists that he is not interested in politics, but there he was, in late January, staring at the camera from behind a laptop, telling 180,000 YouTube viewers what the stars had to say about Alexey Navalny’s future.
🥦 Social media is full of perfectly curated photos of food and a fixation on “clean eating.” But it can trigger an unhealthy relationship with food, Mariam Kiparoidze reports.
🇮🇪 Anti-lockdown protesters in Ireland are planning so-called Easter Rising demonstrations this weekend to mark the anniversary of the 1916 armed struggle against British rule. Read more here.
Hello 👋 Here are the stories that we’re following right now:
💊 From unproven cancer treatments to supplements for hormonal imbalance, some CEOs and business leaders have made a business of promoting a variety of pseudohealth cures. Coda’s staff has the story.
💸 Central Asian countries have become attractive locations for mining digital currencies, but research shows they are among the most vulnerable to cryptocurrency attacks. Read the story here.
💊 From unproven cancer treatments to supplements for hormonal imbalance, some CEOs and business leaders have made a business of promoting a variety of pseudohealth cures. Coda’s staff has the story.
💸 Central Asian countries have become attractive locations for mining digital currencies, but research shows they are among the most vulnerable to cryptocurrency attacks. Read the story here.
Happy Monday ✋ Here’s what we’re following this week:
🇷🇺 For years, pro-Kremlin TV channels avoided using Alexey Navalny’s name on air. Now that he’s behind bars, their propaganda tactics have changed.
🇮🇷 An Iranian cleric known as the “father of Islamic medicine” has been pushing pseudoscientific cures for coronavirus. And he’s not the only one.
🇷🇺 For years, pro-Kremlin TV channels avoided using Alexey Navalny’s name on air. Now that he’s behind bars, their propaganda tactics have changed.
🇮🇷 An Iranian cleric known as the “father of Islamic medicine” has been pushing pseudoscientific cures for coronavirus. And he’s not the only one.
👤 Facial recognition used on dating apps and online ad is identifying users by gender, potentially making false judgements about trans and non-binary people. Rights groups are pushing the European Commission to ban automated gender recognition tech. Read more here.
Coda Story
Facial recognition systems are deciding your gender for you. Activists say that needs to stop - Coda Story
Rights groups believe that new tech reinforces old prejudices and are calling on the European Commission to ban it
Hello 👋 Here’s our top read for today:
🇮🇳 India plans to use facial recognition in vaccination centers. But opponents fear that the move is designed to further entrench the country’s controversial biometric ID system. Read the story here.
🇮🇳 India plans to use facial recognition in vaccination centers. But opponents fear that the move is designed to further entrench the country’s controversial biometric ID system. Read the story here.
Coda Story
India wants to use facial recognition in its coronavirus vaccine drive - Coda Story
Opponents fear that the move is designed to further entrench the country’s controversial biometric ID system.
🔎 Political disinformation characterized Mexico’s 2018 election. Ahead of midterm elections, journalists are joining forces to weed out fake news.
🤳 Chinese YouTube superstars Li Ziqi and Dianxi have more followers than all China’s state media outlets combined. They’re the ultimate #cottagecore influencers - showcasing an idyllic existence that just happens to suit the authorities’ messaging. Read more here.
🧠 People with chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS, are turning to a controversial program called the Lightning Process for help. But critics say it’s not based on legitimate research, and some patients say it actually made them worse.
🧠 People with chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS, are turning to a controversial program called the Lightning Process for help. But critics say it’s not based on legitimate research, and some patients say it actually made them worse.
Happy Monday 👋 Here’s our top read for today:
😷 India’s teens are using social media to help people find ICU beds and oxygen as Covid-19 spikes in the country.
😷 India’s teens are using social media to help people find ICU beds and oxygen as Covid-19 spikes in the country.
Coda Story
Indian teens track down vital supplies on Twitter as hospitals face collapse - Coda Story
Thousands of Gen Z-ers are working round the clock to connect Covid patients with oxygen, beds and plasma via social media
🇲🇲 Despite being vocal in opposition to the coup in Myanmar, social media users are getting harassed because of family ties to the military. Burhan Wazir has the story on how suspicion is rising within Myanmar's pro-democracy movement.
☢️ From microwaves to power lines, conspiracy theories about radiation have been around far longer than 5G technology. Coda's Mariam Kiparoidze takes a look at the history of radiation fears.
☢️ From microwaves to power lines, conspiracy theories about radiation have been around far longer than 5G technology. Coda's Mariam Kiparoidze takes a look at the history of radiation fears.
Hello 👋 Here’s what we’re following right now:
🏆Global leaders from Cambodia’s Hun Sen to Georgia’s Bidzina Ivanishvili have used international awards to boost their reputations internationally and at home. Coda’s team looks at how awards and honorary degrees help burnish political records.
📱Mexico is the latest to join a list of 18 countries that link biometric data to mobile phones. Under a new law, that data would be stored in a government database. But activists are raising alarms that the database could be exploited by organized crime groups and corrupt officials.
🏆Global leaders from Cambodia’s Hun Sen to Georgia’s Bidzina Ivanishvili have used international awards to boost their reputations internationally and at home. Coda’s team looks at how awards and honorary degrees help burnish political records.
📱Mexico is the latest to join a list of 18 countries that link biometric data to mobile phones. Under a new law, that data would be stored in a government database. But activists are raising alarms that the database could be exploited by organized crime groups and corrupt officials.